According to the recent Construction Pipeline Trend Report by Lodging Econometrics (LE), the Asia Pacific, excluding China (APEC), hotel construction pipeline hit an all-time high at the Q4 2024 close, climbing 5% year-over-year (YOY) to reach record counts of 2,085 projects/412,358 rooms.
At the close of the quarter, projects under construction accounted for 41% of the total pipeline with 848 projects and 47% of the rooms in the pipeline with 196,408 rooms. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months increased 7% YOY to 367 projects/67,617 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage saw significant growth, up 22% YOY to reach a record high of 870 projects with 148,333 rooms.
The higher-end chain scales continue to dominate the APEC region’s pipeline at the Q4 2024 close by projects. Upscale projects reached an all-time high room count and rose 16% by projects YOY to close the quarter at 517 projects/102,909 rooms. Upper midscale hotel projects increased YOY and stand at 376 projects/77,174 rooms at Q4. Upper upscale projects also grew slightly YOY at Q4 with 368 projects/80,095 rooms. In total, these three chain scales account for 1,261 projects totaling 260,178 rooms, or 60% of projects and 63% of rooms in APEC’s pipeline.
Countries with the largest construction pipelines are led by India, which hit record highs with 693 projects/87,512 rooms, up 35% by projects and 43% by rooms YOY. Next is Vietnam, with 251 projects/90,245 rooms, followed by Indonesia with 174 projects/31,193 rooms. Thailand is fourth with 168 projects and an all-time high room count of 43,381 rooms, and then Japan with 163 projects/28,762 rooms.
Cities with the largest construction pipelines are led by Bangkok, Thailand with 68 projects/16,641 rooms, followed by Jakarta, Indonesia with 45 projects/10,199 rooms, and Phuket, Thailand with 40 projects/10,194 rooms. Melbourne, Australia follows with 36 projects/6,851 rooms and then Bengaluru, India with 31 projects/5,935 rooms.
In 2024, the region saw 291 new hotels/55,852 rooms open, with 72 hotels/16,234 rooms opening in the fourth quarter alone. LE analysts forecast 359 new hotels/73,505 rooms to open in 2025 and 337 new hotels/66,213 rooms to open in 2026.